WASHINGTON -- When the transmission went out in his car, the young lawstudent was ready to quit school and go back home to Nevada.

After all, he had a wife and two babies to support, and expenses inWashington, D.C., were eating him alive.

In desperation, he went to see the dean of George WashingtonUniversity Law School to see if financial help might be available.

That's when he found out what President Truman meant when he said, "Ifyou want a friend in Washington, get a dog."

Almost 40 years later, the dean's ice cold response is embedded in his memory.

"Why don't you just drop out of school?" the dean asked.

But Harry Reid did not drop out of school.

As it turned out, he had one more option: his Mormon church.

The church paid for his transmission. Reid graduated, went on tobecome a millionaire lawyer and eventually, the majority whip of theUnited States Senate.

"I'm sorry to admit now I would have quit," Reid said. "I think I waslooking for a way out."

Without the church, he said, "I don't think I would have made it outof law school or been able to do as well with my family."

It is widely known that Reid, 62, is the first Nevadan to ever ascendto a position in congressional leadership.

What is not so well known is that no other member of The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has ever served in a higherleadership role in Congress.

Reid was not born into a Mormon family and did not join the churchuntil he was a student at Utah State University in Logan. After arough and tumble upbringing in the mining town of Searchlight, Reidbecame an amateur boxer and has acknowledged getting "called out" frombars in his youth.

"I am, by nature, somebody that ... I was raised where you settledyour differences physically, and I still have a little of that in meand I'm fighting that all the time. I don't want to be mean topeople," he said.

"I think the church had a tremendous influence on my family's life andmy life, and I hope it's been for the better."

Reid did not become familiar with the Mormon Church until he beganattending high school in Henderson, 45 miles from Searchlight.

"I never went to church, ever -- not once in a while or occasionally-- but never," Reid said. "There was no church in Searchlight. Therewas no place to go to church. So I had no experience with religion atall."

As a new kid in Henderson, Reid wore clothes his mother bought out ofa Sears & Roebuck catalog. "I'm sure I was, as I look back, kind of ahick," he said.

In spite of Reid's awkward appearance, a couple of Mormon classmatesat Basic High School befriended him and helped him meet other people.

Then Reid took a course offered by the Mormon Church on Mormon historytaught by a bishop named Marlan Walker. "He was mesmerizing. For thefirst time in my life, I heard the message of Jesus Christ," Reidwrote in "Why I Believe," a book written by prominent Mormons.

But Reid did not join the church until he was at Utah State.

After his sophomore year in college, he eloped with his wife, Landra,because her Jewish parents did not want her to marry someone outsidethe faith. They were married by Walker, who performed the ceremony forfree in a Mormon chapel. By the time he graduated from college, Reidand his wife had been baptized as Latter-day Saints.

As a Democrat, Reid is unusual among Mormon politicians. For example,there are five Latter-day Saints in the Senate. All are Republicansexcept Reid.

The first time Reid's son Leif attended a Latter-day Saint church inWashington, D.C., a member asked him to attend a Young Republicansrally.

When Leif declined, and explained he was a Democrat, the church memberreplied, "I didn't know a Mormon could be a Democrat."

Despite the perception that Mormons are inextricably linked to theGOP, the senator said he believes voter registration between Democratsand Republicans in the church is fairly even.

Reid also insists it is easier for a Democrat to be a good Latter-daySaint than it is for a Republican to be a good Latter-day Saint.

"One of the reasons I feel so strongly about the philosophy of theDemocratic Party is that we're concerned about people who havelittle," Reid said. "Look at the programs we've pushed: SocialSecurity, Medicare, Medicaid. Republicans opposed those, every one ofthem. ... I don't see how a person who cares about their fellow mancould oppose these programs."

Without Republicans to control federal spending by Democrats, Hatchsaid, the country would be far worse off economically.

"Look how they're spending now and how it's just like a bunch ofdrunken sailors around here," Hatch said. "All I can say is truereligion means living within your means. True religion means doingwhat is in the best interest of the country as a whole. True religion,it seems to me, is being honest about what has to be done aroundhere."

As a Mormon politician, Reid said the only criticism he has receivedhas come from church members. Reid has never had any problems with thechurch leadership in Salt Lake City. Instead, the complaints have comeprimarily from Mormons in Reid's base of Southern Nevada.

Reid recalled an ugly incident during his last campaign in 1998 whenhe won re-election by 428 votes over Republican John Ensign, who in2000 was elected to the Senate.

One of Reid's sons, whom the senator declined to name, attended aHalloween party at a Mormon church in Las Vegas. The event, called"Trunk or Treat," allows children to pick up candy from car trunks inthe church parking lot. In one of the car trunks was a picture ofReid, with the devil.

"We have many very conservative people in the church, and I'm not avery conservative person in a lot of things," Reid said.

"Some people have difficulty separating their politics from theirreligion," he said. "And even though that group ... is a small group,they still have aggravated me over the years. ... They're prettynon-Christian, in my opinion."

Reid stirred his own controversy recently when he suggested two NevadaRepublican state candidates who are Mormons may have defaced their owncampaign signs. The signs for state Senate candidate Tom Christensenand Assembly candidate Garn Mabey were defaced with stickers that read"Mormon bigots."

"My guess is as good as any, but maybe some of Christensen's peoplefigure that's a way to engender sympathy and get the Mormons to turnout for him," Reid said.

Christensen, who lost in the primary election, said he was surprisedwhen a reporter told him what Reid had said.

"I didn't hear him say those comments, and I want to be careful evennow about what I say," Christensen said. "If he did make thosestatements, they are totally groundless and baseless."

William Stoddard, an attorney who served as a bishop in Reid's Mormonward in Las Vegas during the 1980s, said the senator has been anoutstanding member of the church.

As evidence, Stoddard points to Reid's five children, all of whom areactive church members. But Stoddard acknowledged there are somemembers of the church in Las Vegas who strongly disagree with Reid'spolitics.

"Some of them are unbending. They can't conceive that he can be a goodguy because he has a different point of view," Stoddard said. "I don'tknow what one does about that."

In 1974, in what Reid has acknowledged was the nadir of his career, helost his first race for the Senate by a scant 624 votes to formerRepublican Gov. Paul Laxalt.

Even though he was a Mormon like Reid, Ashley Hall, who would laterserve as the city manager of Las Vegas, supported Laxalt.

"One of the best things that happened to Harry Reid was how he maturedsignificantly between 1974 and when he was elected (to the House in1982)," Hall said.

Hall said his relationship with Reid now is positive, although theystill disagree frequently on politics.

"I have never had any qualms about his personal religious philosophy,"Hall said of Reid. "I've never seen him out of character when it comesto religion. He is a true blue member of the church."

In Utah, church elders view Reid as a valuable asset.

Richard Davis, a political science professor at Brigham YoungUniversity, said church leaders in Salt Lake City were pleased lastyear when Reid became Senate majority whip.

"They don't want the Mormon Church to be regarded as a Republicanchurch, and they have been sending quiet messages in recent years thatit's OK to be a Democrat and a Mormon," said Davis, who also isMormon. "That is the sort of thing where Harry Reid helps because he'sdevout."

But Reid appears to draw a line between his religious work and his jobin the Senate.

Lamar Sleight, director of the Mormon office of international andgovernment affairs in Washington, D.C., for the past 10 years, saidthe church has never asked Reid for help on legislation pending inCongress.

"The church jealously guards its political neutrality," Sleight said."Occasionally, we'll get a call from Capitol Hill relative to a moralissue. They might ask us for our position and we'll put out astatement. But we don't go formally to (lawmakers)."

At the same time, the church knows Reid is in a position to help ifneeded, Stoddard said.

"For example, it would not surprise me that if there were problems insome country abroad where full-time (Mormon) missionaries were notbeing treated properly that he might exert some influence," Stoddardsaid. "My sense is that something like that probably has happened."

Reid describes his Mormon faith as a great disciplinary tool. He saidhe has tithed 10 percent of his income to the church since becoming amember.

"I've always had a job in the church," Reid said.

He teaches Sunday school to a singles class at a Mormon church inWashington, D.C. Reid and another church member also visit fourLatter-day Saint families each month to make sure their needs are met."Harry Reid is a good example of how to use religion in politicsbecause he doesn't use it in an overt way," said Davis, the BYUpolitical science professor. "I wouldn't be surprised if he loses theMormon vote."